For decades, the "bridge" to cross the San Juan Antioquia river on the way to the village of La Mesenia was a 42 foot tree trunk that was replaced constantly due to its failure. Passing on it was always a high-risk adventure and only one person was allowed to cross at a time.
In December of 2016, in agreement with the Community Action Board, THC bought four IP300 beams of 21 feet in length each to build a final solution to this dangerous river crossing. Evelio Rendon, our local "engineer", lead the team that would help install the new bridge. Though we ran into several problems, Evelio always found simple solutions; as consulting with "highly" trained engineers was a nightmare.
The bridge crossing can now easily withstand over 1000 pounds of weight. Though for safety reasons motor vehicles and equines are not allowed, motorcycles, horses and mules have crossed the bridge when the waters of the river rise. This next photo shows that now, several people can cross the bridge at once safely.
